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No Build Pacifica Camper / Beach and Mountain Setup

Wanderlight Minivan Camper

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Dana keeps her setup simple—and that’s the point. This Chrysler Pacifica is her everyday vehicle, transformed into a flexible, no-build camper for quick trips to the shore, the mountains, or anywhere near water.

Instead of permanent builds, she uses the existing third-row seating area to create a comfortable space to lounge, rest, and reset throughout the day. It’s a practical system designed for real life: errands during the week, camping on the weekend.

Her power setup is just as straightforward. A lithium battery paired with a 12V adapter powers her refrigerator while parked—lasting up to 4 days. When she’s driving, the fridge plugs directly into the vehicle, keeping everything charged without extra effort.

This is a realistic, low-commitment way to get outside more often—no construction, no complexity, just go.

6 Comments

@smieglitz 6 months ago

While using a battery to power the fridge is a great alternative to a power station, the way it has been installed in this build creates a potentially dangerous situation. At the very least, insulating caps should be attached to the battery posts to help isolate them from contacting conductive materials. Anything metal falling on both contacts simultaneously could produce a short-circuit and cause an explosion or fire. Better to have the battery enclosed in a non-conductive shell (such as a dedicated battery box from an auto supply shop or a plastic toolbox) that has external power plug connections that prevent mishaps. Those batteries contain a lot of energy and need to be secured so nothing causes a short and so the battery doesn't wobble resulting in loosened connections which also causes heat to build up and become a fire hazard. The terminal plugs only cost a couple dollars and a battery box might run $30 or so. That aluminized Reflectix bubble wrap sitting on the fridge if it shifts might present a hazard or one of the metal cans falling out of the organizer could also be a danger. Get those battery terminals capped and secure the battery to keep it from shifting around. I'd also recommend arranging things so an adequate airspace for ventilation is provided around both the fridge and the battery. Your instruction manuals should provide a recommendation on that aspect. You don't want the electrical devices overheating.

As far as runtime and recharging time, it is fairly simple to estimate. For example, I think the Dr. Prepare battery in the video has a rating of 1280 watt-hours (wh). It should be the result of being a 12.8 volt 100amp-hour battery (where volts times amps equal watts and volts times amp-hours = watt-hours). Your fridge should have a power draw listed in watts. You correctly state the fridge will only run part-time once the temperature setting is achieved. My fridge is rated at 45w on ECO mode and on average runs about 1/3 of the time once it comes to temperature. If we assume your fridge performs similarly, the electrical demand can be estimated as 45w x .3 = 15 watts each hour. If the battery is 1280wh the runtime calculation becomes: 1280wh/15w = 85.3hr or roughly 3.5 days. There will be some loss due to the battery simply running and some energy lost as heat in the wires, but it should run between 3 to 3.5 days given those assumptions.

Recharge time can be estimated in much the same way. You related purchasing a 20amp lithium battery charger. At 20amps, to fully recharge a 100ah battery will take 100ah/20amps= 5 hours (plus a few more minutes due to the charger's inherent operating power draw and similar heat loss in the wiring).

Hope some of what I've related is helpful. Be safe and enjoy your travels...